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ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY 4 | 2015 ÖKOLOGISCHE PERSPEKTIVEN FÜR WISSENSCHAFT UND GESELLSCHAFT E wie Erkenntnisgewinn ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY Die wissenschaftliche Disziplin der Humanökologie untersucht Wirkungszusammenhän- ge und Interaktionen zwischen Gesellschaft, Mensch und Umwelt. Die Autoren und Autorinnen untersuchen, wie die Humanökologie von systemtheoretischen Ansätzen profitieren kann – und stellen so neue Verknüpfungen zwischen eher isoliert stehenden Erkenntnisbereichen her. An zahlreichen Beispielen zeigen sie, wie systemtheoretische Ansätze die Humanökologie bereichern können.

K.-H. Simon, F. Tretter (Hrsg.) Systemtheorien und Humanökologie Positionsbestimmungen in Theorie und Praxis 344 Seiten, 39,95 EUR, ISBN 978-3-86581-772-3 Z wie Ziele Wir ernähren uns nicht von Rohprodukten, sondern meist von zubereiteten Mahlzeiten – und wir essen fast immer in Gemeinschaft. Trotzdem werden die sozialkommunikativen und kulturellen Dimensionen der Ernährung viel zu selten berücksichtigt. Der hier vorgestellte human- und kulturökologische Ansatz tut genau dies und bezieht neben Fragen zur Umwelt, der Qualität unserer Nahrung und der Arbeits- teilung auch Ernährungssicherheit und Geschlechterperspektiven mit ein. REGIONAL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS P. Teherani-Krönner, B. Hamburger (Hrsg.) | Mahlzeitenpolitik Zur Kulturökologie von Ernährung und Gender 254 Seiten, 34,95 EUR, ISBN 978-3-86581-688-7

wie Ernährungssouveränität WELFARE WITH OR WITHOUT GROWTH? E | Bei Ernährung denken wir zuerst ans Essen. Dies greift jedoch vor dem Hintergrund ökologischer und sozialer Herausforderungen oft viel zu kurz. Die Autoren nehmen daher die emotionale Seite der Nahrungsaufnahme ebenso wie die sozialen Aspekte der Ernährung in den Blick. Beispielhaft zeigen ÖKOMODERNISMUS UND ETHIK sie anhand kleinbäuerlicher (Bio-)Landwirtschaft in den Tropen Lösungswege aus der globalen Ernäh- rungskrise auf. WELFARE WITH OR WITHOUT GROWTH? K. Egger, S. Pucher (Hrsg.) ÖKOMODERNISMUS UND ETHIK REGIONAL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS Was uns nährt, was uns trägt Humanökologische Orientierung zur Welternährung 312 Seiten, 39,95 EUR, ISBN 978-3-86581-319-0

GAIA is available online at www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oekom/gaia www.oekom.de | B 54649 | ISSN 0940-5550 | GAIAEA 24/4, 217–288 (2015) Erhältlich im Buchhandel oder versandkostenfrei innerhalb Deutschlands bestellbar unter www.oekom.de Die guten Seiten der Zukunft 240_242_Jakob 08.12.15 18:27 Seite 240

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Welfare with or without Growth? Do We Need to Reduce Economic Activity to Protect the Environment and Increase the Quality of Life? Reaction to Two Articles on Green Growth and Degrowth in GAIA (2015): I.Seidl and A.Zahrnt, R.Loske

Welfare with or without Growth? Do We Need to Reduce Economic Activity to Michael Jakob, Ottmar Edenhofer Protect the Environment and Increase the Quality of Life? | GAIA 24/4 (2015): 240–242 Keywords: degrowth, development, green growth, welfare

n a recent issue of the Oxford Review of EconomicPolicy, we pub- market economy. In this regard, the main point of contention con - Ilished an article on Green Growth, Degrowth, and the Commons sists in a different understanding of the implied means-ends re- arguing that neither “green growth” nor “degrowth” provide sound lationship to achieve human well-being. As we readily concede, conceptual foundations for policy formu lation (Jakob and Eden- economic growth cannot be a societal goal in itself, but can only hofer 2014). Instead, the discourse should be focused on a welfare- be useful if it helps to achieve other objectives. Yet, that converse theoretic basis that puts societal goals cen terstage.We proposed statement is also true. Nothing is gained by a shrinking economy “welfare diagnostics” as an integrated framework to correct the in itself. Lowering the rate of economic growth does not automat- over-use of limited resources as well as under-provision of public ically guarantee better working conditions or a better state of the goods. environment. In this issue of GAIA, Seidl and Zahrnt (2015) as well as Loske We agree with the argument that economies need to be resil - (2015) have responded to our article and raised some criticism. ient to the possibility of lower or even no economic growth, regard- We appreciate the opportunity to respond in turn and identify in less of whether one thinks of economic growth as a good or a bad which aspects our perspective on the issues at stake differs. thing. There are numerous convincing reasons why economic growth may slow down in the future, including the possibility of slowing technological progress, demographic change, slowing Assessing Trade-offs between Different Policy growth in developing countries as they become richer, the impacts Objectives of environmental degradation, or the costs of policies to conserve limited natural resources. Even proponents of a growth agenda First, Seidl and Zahrnt (2015) as well as Loske (2015) emphasize should be able to agree that adapting to the possibility of slower the importance of weening our economies off their “addiction growth in the future expands the option space for the formulation to growth” and criticize that this aspect receives too little attention of economic policies. in our work. Seidl and Zahrnt (2015) argue that growth is deeply Yet, Seidl and Zahrnt (2015) as well as Loske (2015) imply that engrained in the basic institutions of capitalism, such as mon- a wide-spread addiction to economic growth prevents the adop- etary policy or social security. Loske (2015) points out that a post- tion of measures that would improve well-being, but reduce eco- growth economy based on cooperation and sharing would look nomic growth. Our approach provides a general framework to very different than our current economic system of a competitive assess trade-offs between different policy objectives. For instance, consumption is a valid goal, in particular in poor countries where needs are far from being met. However, consumption also comes Contact: Dr. Michael Jakob | Tel.: +49 30 3385537202 | with disadvantages, such as resource use and work-related social E-Mail: [email protected] issues including adverse health impacts and lack of time to spend Prof.Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer | Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research with friends and family. As a consequence, achieving a good life (PIK) | Potsdam | Germany | E-Mail: [email protected] requires finding the appropriate balance between competing ob- both: Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change jectives. Finding this balance may be guided by two central ques- (MCC) | Torgauer Str. 12–15 | 10829 Berlin | Germany tions:

©2015 M. Jakob, O. Edenhofer; licensee oekom verlag.This is an article distributed under the terms 1. What goals do we wish to achieve as a society, i.e., what is of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which our notion of a good life? permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 2. What are possible ways to achieve these goals?

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The first question is normative, and people may have very differ - nomic growth can provide the financial resources to expand ac- ent conceptions of how they want to live. The second question cess to education. On the other hand, more education can either is positive and includes assumptions on, e.g., technological de- increase (due to higher productivity) or decrease economic output velopments, or the workings of social institutions. (due to more time and effort used for education). Clearly, assess- One reason that the debate on economic growth has resulted ing the role of education in social welfare involves a complex anal- in a gridlock is that too little attention has been paid to clearly for- ysis that cannot be restricted to economic growth. mulate firstly the implied trade-offs, and secondly, how to assess Loske (2015) criticizes our approach of welfare diagnostics as those trade-offs. A productive debate requires identifying why peo- being one-sided, identifying critical minimal thresholds without ple arrive at different conclusions. For instance, proponents of eco- discussing critical maxima, such as overconsumption. In our view, nomic growth may show relatively little concern with regard to the this criticism misses the point. As we emphasize in our paper, wel-

Overcoming the decline of natural capital and insufficient investments in the capability of people is at the core of welfare diagnostics.

impacts of economic activity on the environment either because fare diagnostics aims to achieve the right balance and to correct of a relatively low valuation of the environment as a value per se, the overuse of scarce resources as well as the under-provision of or because of technological optimism to decouple production from public goods. From this perspective, the main problem of having resource use. Vice versa, proponents of degrowth arguably sup- too much of something lies in having too little of something else. port growth reductions because they put a higher valuation on the Hence, overconsumption can clearly be related to, e.g., a lack of negative impacts of economic growth and are at the same time un- leisure (taking into account the time spent earning money to fi- convinced by the possibility to “dematerialize” economic activi- nance a luxurious lifestyle), insufficient environmental quality ty. Formulating the issues at stake in terms of welfare theory can (given the resources used in production), or meaning of life (if help move the debate forward by clearly identifying points of dis - consumption substitutes for the fundamental desire of human agreement that stem from different assumptions and worldviews. beings to discern their place in the universe). Loske(2015)further From this starting point, a compromise may be possible in view argues that failing to address the question of having too much is of normative goals (e.g., as we argued, meeting basic needs should not particular to our approach but pervades the entire sustainable be an objective on which most observers are likely to agree) and development discourse.This is only true for an overly narrow view aspects that are amenable to empirical assessment (such as how of sustainability. An appropriate concept of sustainability would realistic assumptions are on technical progress required to achieve rather provide a comprehensive list of social objectives. Sustain- decoupling). able development would then be understood as choosing a course of action that minimizes trade-offs and maximizes synergies be- tween these objectives. Putting Societal Goals Center Stage

Second, Seidl and Zahrnt (2015) and Loske (2015) take issue with New Impetus for Green Tax Reforms our notion of welfare diagnostics. Seidl and Zahrnt (2015) are con- cerned by the lack of operationalization of our framework. As ex- Third, Seidl and Zahrnt (2015) are unconvinced that environmen- amples, they discuss the relationship of education, employment tal tax reforms will be implemented on a broad scale. Their main and health systems with economic growth. They point out the concern is that – though the argument of a “double dividend” has intrinsic value of education (instead of a mere vehicle to foster been known for quite some time (Parry 1995) – little action has growth) and the potential to improve health by low-cost interven - been taken to put these theoretical insights into practice.We beg tions such as prevention. We understand this point not so much to disagree. The original double dividend literature pointed out as a critique, but rather as an elaboration of our argument. That that interaction with other market frictions can undo the econom- is, outcomes should be put into the focus of the discussion, and ic benefits of eco-taxes. Recent research, however, has identified some objectives are likely better served by more growth, others additional effects, including savings behavior that results from by less, depending on the context. For instance, in many industri- changes in the value of fixed factors, such as land, and a larger tax alized countries health conditions could likely be improved more base in countries with large shadow economies(Eden hoferet al. easily by prevention than by expensive treatment of symptoms, 2015). The existence of these additional effects has re cently ap- whereas in poor countries, sizable new investments will be re- peared in public discussions and could provide a new impetus for quired to ensure access to basic healthcare. Likewise, education green tax reforms. In addition, a large number of countries has al- can be seen as valuable in its own right. On the one hand, eco- ready put (in some instances quite high) prices on fossil energy >

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use (OECD 2015). To date, almost 40 countries and more than ple live under the threshold of extreme poverty of 1.25 US dollars 20 subnational entities have adopted climate polices in the form per day, almost the same number lack access to water, and more of carbon taxes or emission trading schemes (Kossoy et al. 2015). than two billion lack access to sanitation.1 Enabling people in poor We are optimistic that these developments could consoli date in - countries to escape from poverty will require more economic out- to green fiscal reforms in which there is broad support by finance put, and hence continued growth of consumption. ministries for green taxes, not only for their environmental ef- For this reason, economists must broaden the focus of their fects, but also for their potential to raise new public revenues. analysis. Overcoming the decline of natural capital and insuffi- cient investments in the capability of people is at the core of wel- fare diagnostics. This kind of diagnostic does not justify a mate - Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Economic rialistic world view. Rather, it aims to inform policy makers about Policies promising pathways to reduce human suffering and to increase human well-being. In the end, public policy should enable soci - Fourth, Loske (2015) argues that our paper is focused on the An- eties to meet the needs of the present without endangering the glophone degrowth literature and pays insufficient attention to well-being of future generations. post-growth literature from, e.g.,Germany and France.We did not intend to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature, but rather aimed to provide a conceptual framework for analyzing eco- References nomic policy. Therefore, we have discussed some well-known An - glophone contributions as examples. Neither was our intention to Edenhofer, O. et al. 2015. Closing the emission price gap. Global Environmental Change 31: 132–143. dismiss the large body of literature mentioned by Loske as irrele- Jakob, M., O. Edenhofer. 2014. Green growth, degrowth, and the commons. vant. To the contrary, we acknowledge that these authors provide Oxford Review of Economic Policy 30/3: 447– 468. numerous insights into the negative consequenc es of policies aim- Kossoy, A. et al. 2015. Carbon pricing watch 2015: An advance brief from the state ing to maximize economic growth and propose alternatives for and trends of carbon pricing 2015 report. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/05/24528977/ how to conceive of the good life in a society. However, by its very carbon-pricing-watch-2015-advance-brief-state-trends-carbon-pricing- nature, the degrowth/post-growth literature puts the concept of 2015-report-released-late-2015 (accessed November 4, 2015). economic growth in the middle of its discussion. As discussed, Loske, R. 2015. Why the post-growth debate is not a wrong turn. / the essence of this literature should first and foremost be assessed GAIA 24 4: 236–239. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2015. in its capability to present ideas for advancing social progress, rath- Taxing energy use 2015: OECD and selected partner economies. Paris: OECD. er than the extent to which it supports the well-known argument http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264232334-en(accessed November 4, 2015). that economic growth will not cure all social ills. Parry, I.W.1995. Pollution taxes and revenue recycling. Journal of Environ - mental Economics and Management 29/3: S64–S77. Seidl, I., A. Zahrnt. 2015. Social welfare politics cannot ignore growthmania. GAIA 24/4: 232–235. Welfare Diagnostics Informs about Promising Pathways to Achieve Human Well-being Michael Jakob Finally, by emphasizing the potential benefits of post-growth so - ci e ties, Seidl and Zahrnt (2015) focus predominantly on industri - Born 1975 in Munich, Germany. Degrees in physics, economics, and international relations from universities alized countries, and Loske(2015)remains silent on the question in Munich, Germany, St. Gallen, and Geneva, both of how a post-growth society could be put into place in poor coun- Switzerland. PhD in economics from the Technical tries. We agree that rich countries’ incomes, as usually measured, University of Berlin, Germany. Researcher at the Mercator arguably are more than sufficient to meet the requirements of Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), Berlin. Research interests: development economics, infrastructure policy, a good life for everyone, at least on aggregate. However, it is also and the political economy of climate policy. essential to identify the potential undersupply of health care, lo- cal public goods and education in industrialized countries. Ad- Ottmar Edenhofer ditionally, failure to meet the material requirement of some seg- ments of the population is a problem of unequal distribution rath - Born 1961 in Gangkofen, Germany. 1999 PhD in er than of a gross domestic product (GDP) that is too low. Indeed, economics. Deputy director and chief economist at the ( ) for these countries, continued growth of consumption is unlike- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK , Potsdam, Germany, professor of the Economics of Climate ly to be the solution to social problems. However, on the global Change at the Technical University Berlin, and director of scale, the picture looks very different: more than one billion peo- Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), both Berlin, Germany. 2008 to 2015 co-chair of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which won the 1 Database query “world development indicators” at World DataBank 2014: Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Research interests: growth and development http://databank.worldbank.org/data/views/variableselection/selectvariables. theory, public finance, distributional effects of climate policy instruments, aspx?source=world-development-indicators. and game theoretic aspects of designing international agreements.

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